Field
Some example embodiments relate generally to a system and method for storing fresh and irradiated nuclear fuel, and more particularly to a system and method of storing fuel assemblies such that the fuel assemblies can be placed back into the reactor at a later time.
Related Art
There are several air-cooled spent fuel storage facility designs available in the nuclear industry, which are based on spent fuel elements that have been allowed to decay for several years. One of the ongoing problems at nuclear reactors is to store the spent fuel that is taken from the reactor. The fuel may be initially placed into a spent-fuel pool where the water in the pool acts as a radiation barrier for the fuel elements at the bottom of the pool. At some point, however, the fuel must be moved from the pool to permanent disposal in a repository, since, eventually, the pool will become filled with spent fuel.
It may be several years between the time that the fuel is placed in the pool and the time that it is capable of being transferred for disposal, either because it has not yet lost a sufficient amount of radioactivity to be considered safe and economical for transport, or because there is no permanent disposal facility available. Also, once the fuel is taken out of the reactor and stored, it is not reloaded into the reactor.